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So, I just figured out, based on what Larinda wrote, that a studio with 4 instructors averaging 20 hours of teaching per week, charging $80 per lesson and paying the instuctors $25, has nearly $20,000 left over every month (and that's not including floor fees from independents, group class fees, or party admissions). Is the overhead of a studio really that much?

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Taxes
Rent
Insurance
Utitlites - Gas Electric Phone Internet
Yellow Page Ads (HUGE expense, an ad with a picture can easily run several thousand a month)
General Advertising
Manager
Receptionist
CC merchant fees
Accountant
Paper and Office Supplies
Cleaners
Chips, Snack, Soda, Candy, Hand Sanitizer (all of the little goodies spread out for the customers)
Toilet Paper, Paper towels
Decorations
Lost income due to teachers out on vacation or sick time or competitions

And that is assuming the studio is operating in the Black! During the first 5 years or so the studio is, in addition to trying to make payroll and monthly expenses listed above, moreso struggeling to pay back the loans (and interest) that initailly paid for the contractors, the mirrors, the floor, the sound system and music, furniture, computer, fax, logo design work, signage, website, general set-up.... All of the money that comes within the first 5 years is technically already spent. Try getting a studio to show you their books sometime. You will be shocked.

The floor alone in my studio was 25k, and it is, quite frankly, a small floor. It would have been 40k to put in a nice sized one.

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So, I just figured out, based on what Larinda wrote, that a studio with 4 instructors averaging 20 hours of teaching per week, charging $80 per lesson and paying the instuctors $25, has nearly $20,000 left over every month

That is if you have 4 full time instructors. And that is if they are actually booked 20 hours. It takes quite awhile for teachers to get booked up. Some girl teachers barely if ever reach 20 on a great week. Then don't forget a studio shuts down when everyone goes to competitions, teachers get sick (and sometimes still get paid) take vacation days (amd sometimes still get paid) close for holidays...

And most studios operate with the owner as a teacher, taking no owner pay, or something very minimal if at all.

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I think it helps a studio to have a number of part-time instructors who are paid less (sometimes a lot less) than the full-time instructors. That's the case at our studio (and its been in existence 26 years). I think most students at our studio think instructors are making a lot more than they really are. A common misconception. I also think most students don't realize what it takes to run a studio. I was shocked to hear how much the monthly rent is for our studio. Floor was over $30K when installed years ago. I can only imagine what total of other costs are.

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Or if the studio even charges for the parties, since some will do it free if you've had private that week, or it's charged as part of package, and depending on how you want to split up cost of package, this may be first thing that gets chopped off price wise when you discount package price (either for paying cash, or for buying larger package, etc).

It's definitely harder for female pros to get their schedules filled, least at studios I go to/hang out at. For the one studio at least, "quota" is 25 hrs/lessons a week. Have seen months where none of the female pros hit quota, if memory serves (though that happens less now). And that's at one of the busiest studios in FA chain. Smaller studios it can be even harder.

And can add to Larinda's list computer services (us IT guys don't run cheap ) and in case of FA or AM studios, franchise fees, at least to start.

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That is if you have 4 full time instructors. And that is if they are actually booked 20 hours. It takes quite awhile for teachers to get booked up. Some girl teachers barely if ever reach 20 on a great week. Then don't forget a studio shuts down when everyone goes to competitions, teachers get sick (and sometimes still get paid) take vacation days (amd sometimes still get paid) close for holidays...

And most studios operate with the owner as a teacher, taking no owner pay, or something very minimal if at all.

One studio I know charges $300 per day to have its teacher go to a competition, I don't know how they split this between the studio and the teacher. And they only close completely for 2 local competitions.

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I rent space at this moment in time -- dont need the hassle of running a school . Just have classes , some private ,and a monthly b/room social. I also reside in a very small sized town. Not one studio anywhere. Two others teaching b/room, mainly social , and one, beside myself, teaching Salsa .
But you would always be welcome . :banana:

Yes, some charge per dance, and some charge just a flat fee. However, a couple of teachers I know, if a comp is local and they know they will have a lot of students and a lot of entries, do not charge their fee, just split the expenses between everyone to encourage people to dance more. By doing so, they virtually guarantee that they will get top teacher and top studio money.

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One studio I know charges $300 per day to have its teacher go to a competition, I don't know how they split this between the studio and the teacher. And they only close completely for 2 local competitions.

Some of it goes to cover studio expenses that aren't being met while the teach is away. Even if the studio is open they are losing money since the teacher is not burning lessons off the books and you are one day further from an emrollment or payment.

Also the teacher needs to be able to have their travel expenses covered. Driving or flying. They need a hotel room for several nights. They need admission tickets to get into the ballrom to dance. And they need to eat. They are on a business trip and these things need to be covered by the business. So the business is going to mark-up the price to cover their expenses. Without this kind of coverage I have known teachers to sleep on the chairs in the lobby of a hotel, and change in the changing rooms, because they, or the studio, could not afford the $280 a night hotel room (x5 nights) after taking 4 days off of work, and making minimal change per dance with just a few students and entires.

Most studios I know require that a teacher have at least 3 (or some other number) students go in order to make it not a losing proposition. This can be hinderence however for newer teacher to get a foot in the door... But at least it ensures that the cost is spread as thinly as possible over the most amount of people.